[[!meta date="2018-06-10T16:58:35.625084"]]
[[!meta author="Tyler Cipriani"]]
[[!meta copyright="""
Copyright &copy; 2018 Tyler Cipriani
"""]]
[[!meta title="Kettle Cleaning Day!"]]

**tl;dr**:

![Bar Keepers Friend is magic |
[Small](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/small.jpg) |
[Medium](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/medium.jpg) |
[Large](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/large.jpg) |
[Xlarge](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/xlarge.jpg) |
[Original](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/large.jpg)](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/34/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/large.jpg "Bar Keepers Friend is magic")

Brewing is mostly cleaning. For each beer I brew --- on the cold-side --- I
completely disassemble both my kegs and my conical. I soak all the tiny pieces
in Powdered Brewery Wash (or, more recently, Alkaline Brewery Wash), I rinse,
and I fill with Star San to sanitize completely. I keep a little spray bottle
of Star San to sanitize hose connections quickly. I keep a storage container
full of sanitizer around "just in case". When it comes to the cold-side, I'm
ultra careful and ultra clean. And my beer wins awards. More importantly, my
beer tastes good: I like my beer. But when I start scrolling through
[Brulosophy](http://brulosophy.com/) there is clearly --- CLEARLY --- a
cleaning step I'm missing: my kettles.

The Brulosophy crew have kettles that sparkle like beautiful stainless steel
diamonds in the sun. My kettles...

![My kettles ain't great |
[Small](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/small.jpg) |
[Medium](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/medium.jpg) |
[Large](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/large.jpg) |
[Xlarge](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/xlarge.jpg) |
[Original](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/original.jpg)](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/60/a6c6acee9fd6515ae232b98061175e/large.jpg "My kettles aren't great")

I clean my kettles at the end of back-breaking, triple-decoction-containing,
uncomfortable-sweat-dripping, 110°F-in-the-shade-heat-stroke-inducing, and/or
-2°F-in-the-sun-hyptothermia-inducing brew days. This is to say that I pressure wash them,
I flip them upside down on a table on my patio, and I go pour myself a beer.

This past Saturday I said to myself, "Brew man" (that's what I call myself
sometimes. I call myself "Brew man"); I said, "Brew man, the time has come. Get
ready to mercilessly purge the scourge of beer stone from your life and the
lives of the kettles you so dearly treasure." And so it came to pass that I
began my reluctant alliance with the great majestic beast that is Bar Keepers
Friend.

![The great majestic beast |
[Small](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/small.jpg) |
[Medium](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/medium.jpg) |
[Large](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/large.jpg) |
[Xlarge](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/xlarge.jpg) |
[Original](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/original.jpg)](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/4e/25bd2295e1a2f4550b8c843ea5ae29/large.jpg "The great majestic beast, Bar Keepers Friend")

And then it took like basically no time at all. I don't know why I don't do
this more often.

The procedure I used:

1. Spray down your kettle with the hose to free any debris and wet the surface
2. Liberally sprinkle on Bar Keepers Friend
3. Scrub the kettle with resulting paste and a clean sponge.

I used only the soft, yellow, gentle side of the sponge since I'm super
freaked-out about scratching my stainless. While I realize that absolute primal
terror at the sight of the green scrubby-side of the sponge may not be "normal"
(nervous chuckle), there really isn't any need to use the green scrubby,
honest. Not when the soft side of the sponge makes a kettle look so amazing!

![My, what a clean kettle I have |
[Small](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/small.jpg) |
[Medium](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/medium.jpg) |
[Large](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/5ed19c5a7b399b40190fde5edf8a9c/large.jpg) |
[Xlarge](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/xlarge.jpg) |
[Original](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/original.jpg)](https://photos.tylercipriani.com/thumbs/5b/0981fdf033c4d716c2979ac4f2729b/large.jpg "Clean so kettle I can see myself!")
